News Archive

The opening night of the Hancock Prospecting Australian Short Course Swimming Championships in Adelaide proved to be a strong start for the UWA-West Coast team.

Represented by some of the biggest names in Western Australian swimming, the club was able to secure some early medals as well as hit some personal bests.

After cruising into the finals with the fastest seed time, Rio Olympian Blair Evans easily won the 400m individual medley ahead of fellow Rio athlete Emily Seebohm.  Blair finished four seconds before her competition, and was less than a second off the Australian record.

Elsewhere, Brianna Throssell finished in seventh place in the women’s 100m freestyle, a fierce competition that saw Cate Campbell break the world record. After going in to the event seeded eighth, Brianna’s final result improved upon her previous swim. UWA alumni Holly Barratt also swam in the final, finishing ninth.

Three other UWA-West Coast girls swam in the morning’s 100m free heats. The three rising stars, Jemima Horwood (15th in 55.38), Tamsin Cook (24th in 56.23) and Kara Broadbridge (27th in 56.42), have come to make a name for themselves in Western Australia, and their efforts in Adelaide show that they are continuing to develop and mature as swimmers.

In the men’s 100m, UWA’s Zac Incerti qualified for the final fifth fastest with a PB time of 48.97. Strong swimming in the final earned him fourth place, as well as breaking his own PB a second time with an improved swim of 48.87.

Both 4x100m relay teams can be proud of their results, pushing strong times. In the men’s relay, the team of Zac Incerti, Christopher Paunich , Alex Milligan , and Joshua Edwards-Smith finished fourth in the final, less than a second behind the silver medallists. Joshua was the youngest swimmer in the finals, aged only 14, and swimming against Olympian Kyle Chalmers.

In the women’s relay, the team of Brianna Throssell, Jemima Horwood , Tamsin Cook , and Kara Broadbridge proved a recipe for success as the fastest seeded team pushed hard for the gold medal. Trailing just behind TSS for the entire race, Tamsin Cook managed to bring some extra strength to the final 25m to snatch the gold for UWA-West Coast.

In other news, UWA student athlete Nicholas Brown took out bronze in the 200m butterfly, swimming for Western Spirit. Nick finished just a fingernail behind Rio Olympian David Morgan and gold medallist Japan’s Daiya Seto.

The Championships continue over the weekend, with more events to come for the young UWA-West Coast Team.

On Friday, the early results show that the team is still swimming strong. In the women’s 400m freestyle Tamsin Cook finished fourth in her heat, in a race where the Australian record is still held by Blair Evans.

Meanwhile, Brianna Throssell continues her good form with a third fastest time in the 100m butterfly heats.

The finals of Friday’s competition will be later in the evening, and give chance for the UWA swimmers to prove themselves yet again.

Media references

Louis Humberstone

Graduate Officer, UWA Sport Marketing, Communication and Events

[email protected]

6488 3768